- Eden Hazard has blamed coach Antonio Conte for Chelsea's 1-0 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday
- The Belgian forward believes putting Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud on the bench in that game was unthinkable
- He might likely join Real Madrid at the end of the summer having failed to sign a new contract with the Blues in the past months
Eden Hazard has expressed disappointment with Antonio Conte’s tactics in Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester City at the Ethiad Stadium on Sunday, March 4.
Bernardo Silva’s lone goal in the 46th minute was all the Citizens needed to complete a double over the Blues this season, while they stretch their lead to 18 points on the log temporarily.
Both Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud were benched in the crucial game, but the Belgian forward, who was fielded as a false 9 in that meeting, has disapproved of the strategy, saying even if the game was extended by another hour, he would not have had more than the touches he had in the game.
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With the 27-year-old getting increasingly frustrated at the Stamford Bridge, he might be joining Real Madrid this summer if the Spanish club offer him an impressive deal according to Goal.
The Santiago Bernabeu outfit have not hidden the fact they admire the forward and would want to have him replace ageing Cristiano Ronaldo at the end of the season.
Real, on the other hand, have not been impressive either this season in the league, trailing Barcelona with 15 points after 27 league matches – 11 games to the end of the season. But the Premier League side are desperate to keep their star player with manager Antonio Conte heading for the exit.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who is also Hazard’s countryman, is hoping to follow Hazard to Real, as both of them have refused to commit their futures to the west London club.
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"I wouldn't have got a touch even if we played for three hours, even if we improved in the last 10 or 15 minutes," the Belgium international said after the match.
"We were better with the ball, but we needed to do that during the whole match.
"For me personally, it's hard to play well if you only get the ball three times. But, when we got the ball, we had to use it better - we made the wrong choices."
Hazard added: "I was trying to jump, but it's not easy to win duels against Nicolas Otamendi and Aymeric Laporte," he said. "We didn't play to our strengths today. If Morata or Giroud played, it would have been easier to play with long balls. I did my best.
"Conte put me up front, I tried to do my maximum, but I don't think we played a good match."
The attacker believes that City compared favourably to Barcelona, who Chelsea face in the last-16 of the Champions League next week, having drawn 1-1 in the first leg at Stamford Bridge.
"We have had opportunities against Barcelona, but nothing at all today," he said. "It was difficult, especially to get out of their pressing.
"If you have the ball, you immediately have three, four men on your skin. We also missed easy passes. We did not play a good game collectively, but we are going to work hard to do better next week."
Chelsea will hope they can bounce back to winning when they battle Crystal Palace this weekend to get ready for their crucial Champions League encounter against Barcelona in Spain next week.
They will also battle Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur for a place in the top four teams to stand a chance to play Champions League football next season.
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Source: Sports.naija.ng